QUALIFYING: Jeff Gordon won the Bud Pole with a speed of 120.331mph and a time of 01:13.298sec his sixth of the year. Rusty Wallace started 6th with a speed of 119.770mph and a time of 01:13.641sec. Top Ten Qualifiers: 1st-Jeff Gordon, 2nd-Ron Fellows, 3rd-Ricky Rudd, 4th-Jeff Burton, 5th-Jimmy Spencer, 6th-Rusty Wallace, 7th-Mark Martin, 8th-Jerry Nadeau, 9th-Ernie Irvan, 10th-Dale Jarrett. Notables in field: 16th-Ken Schrader, 22nd-Dale Earnhardt, 28th-Michael Waltrip, 31st-Jeremy Mayfield, 32nd-Ricky Craven, 37th-Bobby Labonte. Starting Grid
RACE: Jeff Gordon's crew, known as the
Rainbow Warriors, has won plenty of races for the young NASCAR
star. On Sunday, it was Gordon's turn to pick up his crew after
an uncharacteristically slow pit stop. After starting from the pole and dominating the first two-thirds of the race, that stop, on lap 59 of the 90-lap event, combined with some early stops by drivers hoping to win on pit strategy, left Gordon 15th. The 27-year-old wonderkid was able to chase down Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace on the 11-turn Watkins Glen course. Much to his
surprise, he then found out that it was Mike Skinner who was
leading by more than seven seconds. Skinner, who held on for a career-high third-place finish, nearly made a big risk pay off with the upset of the season. But it blew up when he had to slow in the late going to squeeze out enough mileage to finish. First Gordon, then Martin passed Skinner, marking the third straight race in which Gordon's Chevrolet has preceded Martin's Ford across the finish line at the front of the pack. Crew chief Ray Evernham chose not to tell Gordon about Skinner's strategy until after he had gotten past Martin and Wallace. The relentless Gordon made a strong move to slip past Martin for third place on lap 80. He then passed Wallace on the outside on lap 82 to grab second. At that point, Evernham told him Skinner was the leader and was far ahead. But the margin closed quickly, with Gordon easily driving past Skinner's Chevy to take the lead on lap 87. Martin went past Skinner for second in the first turn of the last lap. Top Ten Finishers: 1st-Jeff Gordon, 2nd-Mark Martin, 3rd-Mike Skinner, 4th-Rusty Wallace, 5th-Dale Jarrett, 6th-Kyle Petty, 7th-Sterling Marlin, 8th-John Andretti, 9th-Johnny Benson, 10th-Bobby Labonte. Notables in the field: 11th-Dale Earnhardt, 14th-Ricky Rudd, 23rd-Jeff Burton, 24th-Ken Schrader, 31st-Jeremy Mayfield. Race Results
RACE RECAP:
After 160 Laps
Leaders: 6
Lead Changes: 8
4 Cautions for 9 Laps
Cars Out of Race: 2
Average Speed: 94.446mph
Winner: Jeff Gordon
Margin of Victory: 3.437
Time of Race: 2:20:03
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